Nokia va Noandu ya!

One good ideal to follow as a 'good' consumer would be to use a gadget / service as extensively as possible. I have seen people using high-end tools for pedestrian applications! And when that happens, it irks me like nothing else can. What else can I do, when a person sincerely opens MS Word to store a phone number!

Let me get to the point directly. This blog is to state some cool "secret" things that can be done with higher end Nokia phones. (N Series / 6681 / 6680 / 6600 etc)

Ok, frankly there is nothing secretive about these features; they are there on the user manual alright. But none of us turn to the user manual EVER, right? As people often say, "If all else fails, read the instructions". So I believe you guys might have some useful take-aways from this one.

Here goes...

1. To select text: YES! You can select text like you can do on the computer.
- Place the cursor at the beginning of the text to be selected
- Press and hold the edit button (it is the button labeled with a small pencil)
- Now move your cursor to the right without releasing the edit button (use the arrow keys for this). As you run the cursor across the text, it will get selected and will be indicated as on a computer
- Once the cursor reaches the end of the text to be selected, release the buttons
Simple!
(Tinker around with it; for e.g., with the edit button pressed, instead of pressing the right arrow several times, press the down arrow once to select an entire line.)

2. To copy text:
- Select text as indicated above
- Now press and hold the edit button
- An option will appear on the screen to copy the text

3. To paste copied text:
- Place the cursor wherever you want to paste the copied text
- Press and hold the edit button
- You will get an option on the screen to paste the text

4. To mark multiple continuous options on a list:
Like, when marking many songs / images on lists. There is a much easier way than to go to options each time!
- Place the cursor on the first item in the list
- Press and hold the edit button
- Press the arrow keys to select multiple items
But the catch here is that this is useful only if the multiple items are continuously positioned on the list.
To unmark all marked items, repeat the same procedure. Now all marked items will be unmarked.

5. To insert multiple symbols in a text message:
- press "*" and bring up the list of symbols
- Move to the first symbol you want to insert
- Press "5" (NOT "select")
- Now the symbol will get inserted in the text, but the list of symbols will not disappear. So virtually you wont be able to see the text; but do not worry. The symbol would be there alright
- Now move to the second symbol you want to insert and press "5" once u reach it
- Repeat the same for all symbols you want to insert, BUT FOR THE LAST SYMBOL ALONE PRESS "SELECT" INSTEAD OF "5"
- Now the list of symbols would disappear and you would find that all symbols you inserted would be available on the text in the same order
(Tip: To navigate in the list of symbols you may use the arrow keys. But keys 2, 4, 6 and 8 also double up as alternate arrow keys. I find it easier to navigate with them, rather than with the arrow keys)

6. To view all open applications:
Ok, this is already quite well known. But repeating for the sake of the uninformed.
- Press and hold the menu key
- Your screen will now show the list of applications that you have still left open (if no application is open, it would say "telephone" alone. That is your phone's desktop)
- You can move between the list by using the arrow keys or the menu key
- Choose the "select" option to open the desired application

7. To close applications open in the background, without entering them:
Closing unnecessary applications is very essential. Applications which remain open in the background will consume your battery power. So it is prudent to often check as per the above instructions if you have any applications unknowingly left open. This will often happen this way: You might have called someone from your contacts book / call register. Then you would have forgotten to exit your contacts / call logs once you finish the call. (Worse still, some of you might not even know that it has to be done!) So without your knowledge, after every call you make from your contacts / logs, your battery power will keep reducing unnecessarily. The way to close those applications without entering them is this:
- Press and hold the menu button
- The list of open applications would now appear
- Navigate to the application you want to close (by using arrow keys or menu key)
- Once u reach the application to be closed, press the delete button (the one marked with "c")
- You will be prompted if you want to close the application
- Choose 'yes'

Well then, folks! That's it on this.

I have tried as much as possible to keep the instructions general so that they can be applied on any Nokia higher-end phone. But do remember that nobody is infallible!